Life's Funny That Way
by Linnie22
Summary: [On Hiatus] First year at Hearst while trying to heal. MacDick, but LoVe featured prominently.
1. Chapter 1

A.N. No, I don't own anything. Yes, I'll give them back when I'm done playing with them.

Mac's fingers flew across the keys. Her eyes narrowed as she hit yet another security wall. Without pausing, she knocked it down with the same password as the day before. The adrenaline was swishing through her veins, making her breath come faster and her eyes dilate.

The ringing of her cell phone made her jump, the added adrenaline making her toes and fingers tingle. Breathing hard, she glanced at her timer. Only 15 seconds left until the computer located her anyway. Careful to leave no trace of her activities, she backed out the way she came in, reinstating each security wall as she went.

Why was getting out always so much easier than getting in?

She shut off her computer, ran a shaky hand through her hair and swallowed. Her phone continued to play the sonata she'd had on there for months. It was beautiful, happy and reminded her of a park full of cherry blossoms. But she couldn't be bothered to change it.

She grabbed it off the dresser and pressed send, if only to make the music stop. "Hello?"

"Mac, buddy, pal. You don't call, you don't write."

A reluctant smile teased the corners of her mouth. "Hey, Veronica."

"If you were a bail jumper, where would you go?"

"Hawaii," Mac answered automatically, leaning her chair back onto two legs.

"Planes are a no no to the wanted fugitive. Generally," she amended, before continuing with "And Vegas is out."

"Why's that?" Mac asked, not really caring, but conversations with Veronica were always like this. And she'd quickly learned that resistance was futile.

"That's where he posted bail."

Raising her eyebrow, Mac waited. She couldn't imagine that Veronica really needed her help with this question. She was the computer geek, not the brain stormer. Sure enough, after a few seconds of silence, Veronica's voice came back on.

"I was thinking about going over to Logan's tonight. You wanna come?"

Mac's roommate slammed the door on her way in, barely sparing Mac a glance as she dumped her books on the twin bed and cranked up her music. Sighing, Mac got up, grabbing her sweater off the back of her chair and her key off the desk.

"Hold on a second, Veronica," she muttered.

"What?"

Rolling her eyes, Mac pushed out the door and through the exit to the fire escape of the dorm building, pulling on her sweater as she went. "Sorry. Roommate."

"Oh the joys of communal habitation." The sigh from the other end sounded almost heartfelt. Mac resisted the urge to smirk.

"Yeah. Joyous. How's your dad?" she asked, settling onto one of the metal stairs.

"Great. He's making lasagna. Come with me to Logan's."

"Why?"

"Because you're my friend, he's my boyfriend. It'd be a very friendly evening."

Mac thought of the previous evenings spent in the living room of the suite Logan shared with Dick. Take out from one of the three restaurants that Veronica and Logan could agree on and actually served vegetarian cuisine. It still amazed her how much meat one very petite blonde could eat. Movies, music. Talk, sometimes even laughter. All in all, Veronica was right, it was very friendly. And then Dick would come home.

"I don't think so."

"Logan rented all three of the Indiana Jones movies. I was thinking marathon."

"Bribery will not work."

"Bribery? Who said anything about bribes? All I did was mention Harrison Ford movies."

"Young, cute Harrison Ford. And it's not going to work."

Veronica was quiet for a moment. "Dick's spending the weekend with his dad."

Controlling a wince at the sound of his name, Mac cleared her throat. "Quality time trading off girls, eh?"

"I believe the proper term these days is chicks, my magenta haired friend. And I think they're meeting some of his father's business associates."

"Semantics."

"The point is it'll just be the three of us."

"Where's Wallace?" Mac asked, pulling her knees closer into her chest as she stared into the sunset. She heard Veronica sigh. "He's still looking for Jackie, isn't he?"

"He's not answering his phone. Again." Mac smiled a little at the exasperation in Veronica's voice. She could disappear for days without telling anyone, but if Wallace dared there was hell to pay.

"He was in lecture today," Mac told her. "But I think he had basketball practice until six. Try him on the way to Logan's."

"Can I take that to mean you're coming?" Veronica asked, her voice suddenly so chipper that Mac could almost picture her as a member of the pep squad. Almost.

"Brown."

"Come again?"

"My hair is brown. I'll see you in an hour."

xxx

Veronica was a liar.

That was all that Mac could think as she stared at the doorway, her forkful of yellow curry and rice weightlessly floating somewhere between her mouth and her plate. Her eyes were glued to Dick's as he let the door swing shut behind him.

"Hey, man," Logan's voice came from the abyss near her left ear. "I thought you weren't coming back until Sunday. We got Thai."

Dick's eyes shifted away from hers and landed on Logan as he pocketed his keys. "I grabbed a burrito on the way."

Shaking his hair out of his face, he glanced briefly at Mac as he shifted the strap of the duffel bag on his shoulder. "Hey, Veronica," he said, moving across the living room towards his door. When he passed Mac, he mumbled, "Ghost World."

Then his door was closing behind him and Mac was wondering why her fork wouldn't move in one direction or the other. It was just stuck in limbo.

"What does Harrison Ford have that I don't?" Logan asked, snatching up the DVD box to stare at the actor.

"Well, he's good looking, rich, talented—"

"And I repeat, what does he have that I don't?"

Mac forced a smile as they continued to chatter on next to her. Suddenly, her hand felt heavy and she was able to move it again. She shoved the curry in her mouth, chewed, swallowed, and repeated. But she didn't taste it.

As Logan finished setting up the movie, Mac surreptitiously glanced at Dick's closed door. The centerfold stretched across the front, pursing her lips at the viewer, made her snap her gaze back to the screen. She felt Veronica's eyes boring into the side of her face, but Mac began mixing her curry and rice together with an industrious expression. Then the movie started and Veronica looked away.

Dick didn't come out for the rest of the night. Mac couldn't help but wonder what he did in there. And why had he come home two days early? Weekends with Dick Sr. were the highlight of Dick's life. Alcohol, women and dirty jokes. This was the stuff of Dick Casablancas's dreams. Probably in that order.

Mac fidgeted in her seat. She could leave, but then Veronica and Logan would give her those looks. They were a milder form of the ones she got from everyone else in Neptune. The ones she avoided by sitting in the back of lectures and shopping at the Safeway two towns over. The looks filled with disdainful pity that asked, "How could you not have known?"

Logan and Veronica weren't that bad. Neither was Wallace. At least theirs were just pitying.

Nevertheless, she forced herself to sit through one of the movies before commencing her stealthy plan. She yawned a bit when Harrison Ford got to the village. She yawned again, with less delicacy, when he first stumbled into the catacombs. At the end, she yawned so loudly that her friends stared at her in surprise.

"Tired, Mac?"

The blandness of Logan's tone made her think that she might have over done it a bit. She smiled sheepishly. "I was up pretty late last night working on my CS project."

"Classes only started a week ago," Logan said, casually sliding his arm across the back of the couch. "You already have projects?"

Mac smiled at him as she grabbed her hoodie and zipped it up. "All of my classes have homework and or projects already. Don't yours?" Her friends glanced at each other and shrugged. "You don't know? Where have you guys been, making out in the back of lectures?"

When Veronica turned pink, Mac froze in picking up her purse. Glancing at Logan, she saw a smirk lingering on the edges of his mouth. She shook her head. "Forget I asked. I don't want to know. I'll see you crazy kids on Monday."

"Bye Mac," she heard Veronica call after her. Without turning around, she raised her hand and wiggled her fingers as the door swung shut behind her.

A sigh of relief escaped her as she dashed down the stairs and out the front door. Her dorm was only a few buildings away, a fact that Veronica had immediately labeled convenient since it meant that Mac, Logan and Wallace were all within two minutes walking distance of each other. And Dick, but Veronica didn't mention him much.

The thought drew Mac's mind back to his door. Whenever she was there, which, admittedly, wasn't often, the door was closed, the blonde bombshell staring at her lustfully. Logan and Veronica had caught her staring back a couple of times, but neither of them said anything. Logan had even refrained from lewd jokes. But then, everyone knew that those had double meanings these days.

She wondered vaguely what classes Dick was taking this semester as she pulled out her keys and opened the door to her dorm. In front of the elevator, her RA smiled widely, showing off her perfectly straight pearly whites. "Hi, Cindy."

"Hi, Megan." The elevator dinged open and they stepped inside. Mac quickly pressed the button for the sixth floor.

"You're not going out tonight?" she asked, popping her gum and hooking her thumbs into the straps of her backpack.

Mac smiled wanly at the RA. "Just getting back, actually."

"Early night."

Mac wished the elevator would move faster. Or that someone else would get in. "I have a project due next week."

"Yeah," Megan said sympathetically. "CS is supposed to be an intense major."

Mac blinked at her in surprise as the elevator doors slid open on their floor. "Yeah, I guess." _Good memory_, she thought. She couldn't have spoken to the bubbly RA more than a couple of times over the last three weeks.

"Good luck." Megan grinned and waved before heading off down the hall towards her own single room, her blonde hair bouncing behind her in a perfectly straight pony tail.

Suddenly exhausted, Mac slouched into her room, for once glad that her roommate was as anti-social as she. The lights were off and Crimson—her real name was Amanda—was already in bed.

Sitting at her desk, she let her computer boot up, her mind drifting back to the expression on Dick's face when he saw her there. The frozen neutrality of his eyes.

Pulling the laptop towards her, she opened the password program and began what she'd started the day before. That fifth security wall was going down.

xxx

Veronica was not easy to dissuade when she was after something she wanted. Mac sighed and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as she and Veronica walked back towards Veronica's car. "We're watching _Capote_."

Mac glanced at her in surprise. "Logan agreed to Capote?"

"No, but he will."

The serene confidence in Veronica's voice made Mac laugh. "So, you'll come?" Veronica pounced with a grin.

"I really can't. Coding takes time, which I don't have much of between my full-schedule and work."

"Mac, it's just one night. You need to get out of that dorm room. I think Crimson is rubbing off on you."

Offended, Mac opened her mouth to protest, but Veronica cut her off. "I mean, look at you, you're positively pasty. Are you sure you haven't joined a vampire cult?"

Mac raised an eyebrow. "Vampire cult?"

"It's been known to happen. You know how it is. You spend all this time alone in your room. Suddenly, anyone seems interesting. Really, I'm just trying to save you from yourself."

"You're really not going to give up, are you?"

"Wallace is coming," Veronica said, ignoring Mac's question. "He said he has practice but he'll get to Logan's around seven."

Her stomach flipped. "Logan's? I thought we were going to your house."

"DVD player's broken. Again. Which means we'll just have to make due with the high-tech bachelor pad rather than my apartment's many luxurious qualities. Damn," she said, snapping her fingers.

"You love Logan for his surround sound, don't you?"

"Among other things."

"Don't want to know," Mac broke in hurriedly, and the girls started laughing. But it was hard to forget with Veronica, and the smile quickly faded. She glanced away with a fake laugh-sigh combination while Veronica pretended not to notice.

They were silent, unusual for Veronica, but all too frequent for Mac these days, until they reached Veronica's car. "So," she said, pulling out her keys and climbing into the convertible. "I'll see you at Logan's, right?"

"Seven o'clock," Mac said with a forced smile.

"Seven o'clock," Veronica repeated firmly and started the car.

Mac walked away before Veronica could reverse. She didn't like watching people leave.

xxx

"You can't leave, Wallace," Veronica argued, hopping down from her chair. "You've still got twenty bucks."

"Which I will be keeping, thank you."

Logan threw down his cards and grabbed a red vine from the bucket on the table. Mac did the same and they both leaned back in their chairs as Veronica followed Wallace around the room.

"I love watching her swindle," Logan said, gazing lovingly at his girlfriend.

"But you still have a chance to win back all that money Mac stole from you."

"I think I resent that," Mac muttered to Logan as she reached for another red vine.

"That Mac stole from me?" Wallace repeated incredulously. He turned his eyes back to Mac and Logan and pointed at Veronica as if to say, "Did you hear that?"

Veronica leaned in closer and mock whispered. "I can help you. She does this thing where she taps a card when she has a bad hand."

Mac nearly choked. "Wait a minute."

"And Logan's eyebrow twitches when he gets a card he needs."

"Isn't she just adorable?" Logan said with a grin that bordered on menacing. "Darling, doesn't Wallace have practice in the morning?"

Veronica turned back to face him as he stood from the table. "Point being, sugar plum?"

Mac hid a grin as Wallace took advantage of the shift in Veronica's attention to slip on his jacket and move towards the door.

"Point being that he might want to sleep rather than listen to you catalogue your favorite 80s films."

Rolling her eyes, Veronica turned back to Wallace as he reached the door. "Heathers. No contest. Good night, Wallace."

"Good night, V. I'll call you tomorrow."

"You better," she said, pointing at him as he pulled open the door.

"Bye Logan, Mac," he called, backing over the threshhold.

Mac didn't glance up as she replied, turning her attention instead to the inside of Logan's refrigerator. "Oh, sorry man," she heard Wallace say as she reached resignedly for a Coke.

Turning back to the room, she pulled the tab and sighed. "You have a shocking lack of root beer in that fridge, Echolls."

"Uh, sorry," he said, nervously enough to make her look up.

She blinked at Dick as he let the door slam shut behind him. Their eyes locked for a moment and she was sure that they both stopped breathing. Then, he shifted his eyes away and started to walk across the room. Passing Logan and Veronica, he gave them the requisite head jerk, interpreted as a greeting by guys everywhere.

He hesitated mid-step as he came even with Mac then veered behind her into the kitchen. She didn't turn around as she heard the beer bottles rattle in the fridge as it opened and closed quickly. As he walked past her again, she remained frozen, not even moving when he murmured, "Ghost World."

The door to his room clicked shut and Mac, suddenly able to move again, turned her head to locate the noise. Encountering the naked blonde, she quickly spun away and took a swig of soda.

"So, are you satisfied?" she asked, sending a half smile towards Veronica.

"What?" her friend asked, clearly surprised.

"Have you won enough rounds, or do you need to torture us some more?" Mac asked, gesturing at the table with her Coke can.

Veronica picked up her pile of winnings and fanned herself with the one-dollar bills. "I think I've collected enough gas money to hold me for a week or so."

Mac laughed and took another swig of her soda before setting the can on the table and grabbing her jacket. "That's good because I only have five dollars left to my name."

"That five dollars could be saying my name—"

"Say good night, Bugsy," Logan said, pushing Veronica towards the door as he swept crumbs off of the table into a silver metal trashcan. The kind people called wastebaskets. The kind Mac had only seen in magazines, movies and at Cassidy's house.

Jerking her eyes away, she managed to hold onto her smile until she saw Veronica, meeting her gaze so easily. _How can she look at me?_

"Whoa there, Kermit. You're looking a little green around the gills. Too much candy?" Veronica asked sympathetically.

Swallowing hard, Mac laughed a bit. "I guess so. Remind me never to try to keep up with Logan's candy eating skills again."

"I'd like to thank a severe lack of parental supervision and a doting Swedish nanny for making this moment possible," he said, hugging the trashcan to his chest and pretending to wipe away a tear.

Ignoring her boyfriend, Veronica led a pale Mac to the front door. "Do you want me to walk you back?"

"No," Mac denied quickly. Veronica blinked and Mac tried to smooth the panic out of her expression. She had to get away. "I'll be okay. I probably just need some air."

"If you're sure. Text me when you get there, okay?"

Nodding quickly, Mac refused to look at Veronica again and called "Bye guys," over her shoulder as she hurried out the door.

She was right. The crisp night air did make her feel a little less ill. So did throwing up in the bushes next to Logan's building.

xxx

She didn't go to Logan's suite for three weeks, and then only because Veronica insisted on a movie night to celebrate catching her bail jumper. She picked X-Men, all three volumes.

"Why did we need to include the third one?" Mac asked.

"Because then it would be Movie and Its Sequel Night. Trilogy Night sounds so much cooler, don't you think?" Veronica smiled as she tossed open the top of the pizza box.

"They don't even light Phoenix on fire," Mac muttered to herself, poking her fork into her pasta salad.

Logan sank into the couch as the FBI warning flashed onto the screen. Veronica handed him a plate, which he absently took along with the napkin she shoved at him immediately afterwards.

Mac watched them out of the corner of her eye as they automatically moved into each other on the couch. It was as if they were puzzle pieces; they had to connect. Seeing them apart would make the whole picture incomprehensible.

Sighing inwardly, she looked down at her pasta and squished a noodle with her fork. It suddenly wasn't very appetizing. The rich aroma of the melted cheese and sauce of the pizza assaulted her nose and she dropped the pasta container on the table, feeling nauseous.

Logan and Veronica didn't notice when she stopped eating and sandwiched herself into the corner of the couch. The action played out across the screen, but she couldn't concentrate. Her mind kept wandering from topic to topic, never quite staying with the movie that she could usually recite line by line.

Maybe it was the fact that she hadn't been able to eat all day that made her so tired. Or maybe it was the endless jumping of her mind. Whatever it was, she started feeling sleepy right after Wolverine and Rogue ended up at the mansion. She managed to make it through the first movie, but almost as soon as Bobby turned Wolverine's fingers to ice she was asleep.

When she woke up, she lay there for a moment, trying to remember where she was and why she was sleeping on a couch. She fingered the soft blanket on top of her and sleepily sat up. Rubbing her eyes, she yawned and looked around the darkened room. She could see the outline of the door from the light in the hallway, but there was no light coming from either of the bedrooms.

She considered leaving, but worried it might seem weird to disappear without explanation in the middle of the night. Sighing, she lay back down on the couch and pulled the blanket up to her chin. Squeezing her eyes shut, she willed sleep to return.

"_You ever have trouble sleeping?"_

_She shrugged and turned her head to face him. "Sure, sometimes. Usually when I eat too much sugar."_

_Cassidy smiled a little and shook his head. "No, I mean, when you just keep thinking and thinking. Like you can't turn your brain off."_

"_Turn your brain off?" Mac laughed. "Is that even possible?"_

_Cassidy laughed too. "Probably not."_

Sitting bolt upright on the couch, Mac put a hand on her stomach and stood to head for the bathroom. "Ow," she muttered, stumbling and grabbing hold of the couch.

She reached down to find what she'd stepped on and felt the buttons of a video game controller. Slowly, she picked it up and contemplated it. A few minutes later, she was back on the couch with the controller and a muted version of a first person shooter game. She was pretty sure that Logan and Dick only owned it because the character had big boobs, but she chose it anyway.

Engrossed in the game, she didn't hear the key scraping in the lock. She was completely shocked by the blinding light of the hallway as the front door swung open. The dark figure paused there for a moment, then stepped into the room. Mac's heart was beating so loudly that she was sure Dick could hear it. Warily, she watched him quietly ease the door shut and move across the room without glancing at her again.

She returned to her game and tried to ignore him as he moved around in the kitchen. She heard the distinct sound of a beer bottle opening and she frowned. He already smelled like alcohol.

She took aim at one of the spider bots on screen and shot him once, twice. She was going for a third, when Dick spoke up from behind her. "Don't shoot it again. It'll explode."

Quickly dodging around the inert spider, she jogged ahead, glancing around the corridor. "There should be a room to your left."

Swallowing, she turned her spy to the left and saw the doorway. Without questioning it, she jogged inside and quickly took out the guard. The rest of the room seemed empty.

She hesitated, glancing around the room and, again, Dick answered her silent question. "Blow up that crate."

Underneath the crate was a ladder leading to another room below. Climbing down, she didn't dodge fast enough and a guard shot her. "Roll," Dick said, stepping over the back of the couch to sit on the far end. "You gotta dodge, Ghost World," he added when she got hit again and fell off the ladder.

"Where's the shooter?"

"Behind that keg looking thing."

Fingers flying, she turned and shot at the barrel until it exploded. Calmly, she continued through the room and out the door to the new corridor.

"I guess that's one way of doing it."

Mac smiled a bit to herself as Dick leaned into the cushions and took a swig from his bottle.


	2. Chapter 2

A.N. No, I don't own them. Rob Thomas does, the lucky Genius Man. Sorry if there are any errors, I don't have a beta.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mac's fingers shook on the keyboard. Ten seconds left. She had to get out; she knew she did. But the adrenaline coursing through her veins was like heroin. She felt inculpable. Nothing could touch her here.

Five seconds left. Mac took a deep breath that trembled through her lungs like a leaf. Her fingers flew as she broke down the last security wall and memorized the password.

Bang!

Mac barely had time to back out of the program, the walls reinstating themselves as she went, before Crimson appeared at the desk next to hers. The raven-haired girl spared her a disdainful glance as she sat down at her own laptop. Brand new, just like Crimson's phone, Sidekick and Jimmy Choos.

Mac smiled grimly. _All black, of course._

Standing, she grabbed her keys and her bag. Turning her laptop off, she casually glanced at Crimson who was signing on to AIM. Mac rolled her eyes and left the room.

Her legs were a little wobbly as she headed towards the elevator. Used to the feeling, she shook out her legs as she waited for the doors to slide open. She always felt a little shaky afterwards.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket as she was standing in the elevator, and she pulled it out, shifting the strap of her messenger bag higher on her shoulder. The screen said she had five minutes left to get across campus to class.

"Damn," she muttered, breaking into a jog out of the elevator and through the front door of the dorm. "I need to set this alarm earlier."

People stared as she jogged past, but she was used to staring now. She still didn't like it, though. Sometimes she wished that she'd gone far, far away from Neptune. Loans be damned. It was those times that she wished Cassidy had done it all a little earlier, before she'd accepted her scholarship to Hearst

_You don't mean that_, she told herself quickly, squeezing her eyes shut as she rounded a corner. Her stomach pitched as she saw his laughing face. He'd always seemed so full of life around her.

Luckily, she was at the Lit building and could stop her jerking run. She wasn't sure her stomach could have taken any more. Not that there was anything in it to throw up, thank God.

Out of breath, she slunk into the back of the lecture, just as the professor began to speak. She pulled out her notebook with a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat off her brow. Running in hundred degree weather was not her idea of fun.

Wallace appeared a few minutes later and dropped abruptly into the seat next to hers. "What'd I miss?"

"Only the most important piece of information all semester," she teased, smiling at him.

He grinned back and shoved her a little. "Shut up, Mackenzie. Practice ran over."

"You mean, your shower ran over, right?" She wrinkled her nose in concern and edging away.

Wallace didn't even glance at her. "Yes, Mac, I showered. There are no disgusting guy cooties left on me."

"Well, that's a relief." Wallace snorted in response.

Mac was glad that Wallace shared one of her classes. It was nice knowing someone already, particularly since Wallace was so…easy. She only had one class with Veronica, and it was never easy.

After lecture, as they gathered their things, Wallace turned to Mac. "So, did Veronica clean you out last night, too?"

"Believe me when I say that you got off scot-free." She mock glared at him. "Again."

"You gotta know when to jet," Wallace agreed, slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

"And I never do," Mac agreed. "Twice in one month."

Wallace chuckled as they headed out into the sunlight. "That girl is a kick."

"Who's a kick?"

Veronica was suddenly standing next to them. Mac smiled wanly as Wallace threw an arm around Veronica's shoulder. "You are, V."

"Moi? Now, don't think that I don't like it when you guys pine for my presence, but what are you talking about?"

"You and your parties. You know, I think we need to have more Trilogy Nights. Particularly since I didn't make it to either of them."

"And who's fault was that, Fennel?" Veronica asked, poking him in the side.

"Who knew that I had an early practice the next day, Mars?"

"Well, we already did Indiana Jones and X-Men. What more do you want?" Before Wallace could respond, Veronica wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "Star Wars? I don't think so."

"Did I say Star Wars?"

"You always say Star Wars," Mac pointed out from the other side of Veronica.

"Thank you, Mac." Veronica's blonde ponytail swung lightly as she turned back to Wallace. "We will not be watching Jedi with their stupid swords."

"Light sabers," Wallace and Mac corrected automatically.

"Now that's just scary," Veronica muttered, shaking her head. Rallying, she shrugged. "Fine, Wallace. Since I love you, we will watch Star Wars tomorrow night. But you're going to be the one to tell Logan."

Mac opened her mouth only to jerk back as Veronica whirled on her. "And you." Veronica poked Mac in the shoulder. "You will not try to ditch us again. We haven't hung out since the X-Men Trilogy Night two weeks ago. You are so coming."

"Time?"

Veronica smiled victoriously. "Let's say seven. We wouldn't want Wallace to turn into a pumpkin the night before a practice."

"Yeah, that would really hamper my fade away shot."

Mac listened with one ear as Wallace and Veronica chattered away next to her. She wasn't sure how she'd gotten here. Not here on the Hearst campus, but here firmly ensconced in Veronica's Holy Trinity of friendship. The few friends she'd had BV (before Veronica) had drifted away over the past year, particularly after…high school.

She didn't miss them.

xxx

Star Wars ran late, as was the usual with their Trilogy Nights, and Mac once again found herself sleepless in Neptune on Logan's couch. She was pretty sure that even the blanket was the same.

After twenty minutes of sleep eluding her, she gave up and turned once again to her old friend the Xbox. Booting up her saved game, Mac darted into the corridor and began sweeping for enemies.

This time her whole body tensed at the sound of the key sliding into the lock and grinding slightly as it turned the bolt. She blinked as light flooded in from the hallway and waited until the door snicked shut before continuing to play.

She tried to ignore Dick as he crossed the room to the kitchen. Behind her came the unmistakable sound of the fridge door and the crisp pop of a beer top. After a moment, muffled footsteps crossed behind her towards Dick's room. Just before opening the door, he paused and muttered, "Night."

Then he was gone. Mac sagged against the back of the couch. She wasn't sure what sort of reaction she'd expected from him. Two weeks ago they'd sat together until nearly dawn as Dick drank beer after beer and coached her through the game. But she hadn't exactly expected a repeat performance. So why did she feel hollower than usual.

Taking a deep breath, she stopped the game and got up to switch the disk. She needed something that didn't have enemies popping out of nowhere. Rushing adrenaline was not going to help her sleep. Spotting Mario Kart, she bit back a grin and made quick work of switching the wires leading into the tv.

_Thank God this is on mute_, she thought, as the colorful characters appeared on screen in their tiny cars. _Worst game music ever_.

She felt herself relaxing as she knocked other players off the course. There was a stressful moment after she spun out on a snowman, but otherwise she felt the tension seeping out of her body. Sleep would be inevitable within minutes.

Calm for the first time since arriving at Logan's, she guided Yoshi towards the finish line far ahead of the pack. And promptly ran off the road when Dick's door swung open. She was sure that her eyes were wide in the dim light of the screen as she glanced up to find him standing in the shadows of his doorway, pajama pants riding low on his hips.

Whipping her head back to the tv, she discovered that she was suddenly in seventh place, with Bowser right on her tail. Sighing, she crossed the line and watched Yoshi hang his head in shame.

"Suckage."

Jumping in shock at the sound of his voice coming from behind her, Mac cleared her throat. "What?"

"Your run. Total suckage."

Frowning, she turned to glare at him over her shoulder. "Like you can do better."

He didn't bother to meet her eyes. Since she was looking at him, she saw the corner of his mouth quirk up before he sobered. "I'm Mushroom," he said, climbing over the back of the couch.

"Fine."

She restarted the game and waited as he chose his character. "Let me guess, Peach?" he murmured, still refusing to look at her.

Despite the fact that she always chose Yoshi, she felt a contrary urge to defend the pink princess well up inside her. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"Girls can't go as fast."

_Oh, it's on._ "Don't worry," she muttered, glaring as Peach squealed in excitement at having been picked. "I won't ask you to slow down."

xxx

Conversation was basically limited to trash talk or greetings, if they spoke at all. Mostly they sat in silence, concentrating on whatever game Mac happened to be playing when Dick came home.

She wondered where he stayed out so late every weekend, but she never asked. That would have been crossing the invisible boundary they had erected between them, and she refused to do that.

Which is why she was surprised when Dick did.

"You coming to the party?"

Surprise made Mac glance away from the screen at him for a second. Then she heard her character cry out in virtual pain, jerking her back to attention. "What?"

"Party this weekend. You coming? Behind you," he added evenly, his character spinning to confront the oncoming soldiers.

For a while, they focused on trying to live through the attack. When they were once again jogging down the corridor, she remembered his question. "What party?"

"The one at KDR."

She snorted. "I don't think so."

They were silent for a minute while Mac tried to figure out where this tangent had come from. "Are you pledging or something?"

He shrugged. "I guess."

"Is Logan going?"

"Probably."

She sighed silently and gave up trying to have a conversation. Then Dick surprised her again. "If Veronica goes, he'll go." When she didn't say anything, he continued, his voice carrying a hint of exasperation. "It's a party, Ghost World."

"I understand the concept, Dick," she said tersely.

"Yeah? Have you ever even been to a party?"

She frowned and jabbed the trigger button with unnecessary roughness. "Yeah, I have."

"Chucky Cheese doesn't count."

Teeth clenching, she lapsed into silence. "Hey," Dick cried out in a harsh whisper. "Stop shooting me."

"Stop being an ass," she retorted.

"Fine, fine, you've been to a party. Who's party?" he asked, feigning interest.

"Yours."

That made him glance at her. "Really? When did—" Snapping his mouth shut, he turned back to the tv. She heard him swallow. "Friday at the house. West side of campus."

"I know where it is," she said tiredly, her shoulders slumped over the controller.

"You should come. It's supposed to be huge," he mumbled without any real enthusiasm.

She didn't answer and Dick didn't say anything else. Ten minutes later, he set his controller aside, got up and silently disappeared into his bedroom.

xxx

"So, what are we doing this weekend?" Veronica asked, glancing in her rearview mirror.

"Aside from working?" Mac stared out her window as a strip mall flashed past.

"Come on, Mac. It's Halloween. We have to do something."

Mac shrugged. Veronica tensed next to her and Mac squeezed her eyes shut. _Come on, Mackenzie. All you need is a crumb of enthusiasm. You can manage the pretense._

Opening her mouth to speak, she paused to reconsider, still staring out the window. Finally, she managed to force the words out. "I think there's a party or something at KDR."

She glanced over her shoulder in time to see the flash of surprise on Veronica's face. "Since when do you hear about frat parties?" she asked on a disbelieving laugh.

"Since now I guess." When the suspicion didn't leave Veronica's face, Mac sighed inwardly and thought quickly. "Somebody was passing out fliers in freshman lit. It's supposed to be huge," she added, wincing as Dick's words left her mouth.

"Do you want to go?" Veronica asked.

Mac opened her mouth to answer honestly, but shut it again after catching a glimpse of Veronica's profile. She seemed almost excited about the idea. Then it clicked into place in Mac's mind. A party would be an excuse for she and Logan to go out, to be a couple outside of Logan's apartment. A normal couple. And she wasn't going anywhere without Mac safely in tow.

Mac swallowed the bile rising in her throat. She hadn't been to a party since graduation. Shoving the thought aside, she forced a smile. "Sure, why not? Might be fun."

Relief passed over Veronica's features. "Hey, if it sucks, we'll leave."

"Cool," Mac said, nodding and turning back towards the window.

"What are you going as?" Mac shrugged again, but Veronica wasn't paying attention. "I have the perfect costume," she said, a wicked lilt to her tone.

Mac raised an eyebrow to the window. She was getting the feeling that Logan and Veronica would be out of commission for most of the night.

Who cared? Halloween sucked anyway.

xxx

Too late, she realized that not dressing up really made one stick out at a costume party. Standing in the doorway, she eyed the throng of French maids, cowgirls, and gypsies grinding with various frat brothers in the large living room. She could feel her cheeks heating and wished she hadn't pulled her hair back in a ponytail to get it out of her face.

Tugging self-consciously on the hem of her t-shirt, she forced her eyes back to Veronica. Despite the fact that Mac was pretty sure Cleopatra hadn't been blonde, she had to admit that Veronica had chosen her costume well. Logan hadn't been able to look away from her cleavage for long all night, which had made the drive over just a little more terrifying than Mac would have liked.

Or maybe Veronica was supposed to be a Roman noblewoman. Mac couldn't remember. But eyeing their matching togas, she was pretty sure Veronica and Logan had coordinated outfits.

They hadn't been through the door for more than three seconds before a guy appeared from the crowd to give Logan a high five.

"Echolls, you made it. Nice," he said with an appreciative glance at Veronica. His eyes skimmed over Mac dismissively while Logan tugged his girlfriend a little closer. "Keg's in the kitchen, man."

"Seen Dick?" Logan yelled as the song changed and delighted shrieks filtered into the entryway from the living room.

"Yeah, he's around," the guy said, slopping beer out of his cup as he gestured vaguely. His eyes were already glued on the next group of females wandering through the front door.

Logan began pushing his way through the dancing throng, beyond which Mac could only assume lay the kitchen. As she trailed Veronica through the crowd, a cowgirl abruptly stumbled into her, knocking her a good five feet to the right. By the time she righted the girl and looked up, the crowd had closed behind Veronica and Logan leaving nothing but a wall of naked flesh covered in body glitter.

Worse, she'd gotten so turned around that when she pushed through the crowd in front of her, she found herself back in the entryway with Mr. Charm. He paused after descending a set of stairs she hadn't noticed before. "Hey," he said suspiciously, readjusting his football jersey. "Who do you know here?"

She wasn't sure if she was mad or relieved that he didn't remember her. Sighing, she stumbled forward as someone fell into her from behind. The guy reached out to steady her, but she pulled away. "Dick Casablancas," she answered, surprising herself.

His face immediately cleared and he pointed up the stairs. "Second floor."

_Great._ Taking one last glance into the dance floor, she gave up and trudged toward the stairs.

"Hey!" She stopped with one foot on the bottom step and looked over her shoulder at Mr. Charm. "What are you supposed to be anyway?"

She glanced down at her t-shirt and jeans. "A student," she answered, still staring at her faded Weezer shirt.

"Nice!" The appreciation in his tone made her blink at him as the guy raised his hand up high. With disbelief she raised her own and he slapped it enthusiastically before turning away. "Third door to the left," he called over his shoulder as he disappeared into the throng.

She stood at the bottom of the stairs contemplating her choices. She could either take a chance on the dance floor and search for Veronica, who was most likely locked in a closet with Logan by now anyway; or she could attempt to find Dick, who was most likely smashed and would ignore her in the presence of his illustrious frat brothers.

At least Dick wouldn't be plastered to a naked Logan.

At the top of the stairs, she heard the yelling before her eyes adjusted to the black light in the hallway. Cautiously, she moved down the hall, reaching up to tuck a loose hair behind her ear. At the third door, she peered in and saw a group of guys leaning on and around a pool table.

Even in the dim light, his blonde hair shone, making it easy to spot him on the far side of the room. She watched him take a shot of clear liquid—_Vodka?_ she wondered—as the guys around him let out a collective yell. The bottle appeared, another round of shots was poured, and Dick laughed with the group at something the guy next to him said.

Mac's breath caught. But even as the group of guys continued laughing, Dick's face faded into a blank mask. As the smile slid off his face, her lungs eased and she could breathe again.

Just as she sucked in a gulp of air, Dick's eyes locked with hers and she froze. He stood and said something, earning a high five from one of the guys. The frat brothers didn't even look up as Dick moved towards her, but Mac slid out of view anyway.

Dick eased the door shut behind him. "Hey," he muttered just loud enough to be heard over the bass pounding through the floor and up the stairwell. "You come with Logan and Veronica?"

"Yeah, we lost each other on the way to the kitchen."

He nodded as if this were a common occurrence—which, she realized, it might be in a frat house—and started to lead the way down the stairs. At the bottom, he gave her a gentle shove onto the dance floor.

She started to ease her way through the crowd, glancing over her shoulder to make sure Dick was still behind her. He met her eyes and nodded, so she turned back to the jungle of glittering body parts. But when she felt him wrap an arm securely around her waist, she tensed and stopped moving.

"Relax, Ghost World," he murmured. Her teeth clenched at the amusement in his voice, and she forced her muscles to relax a bit. Ironically, after a few minutes of being jostled by the dancers, she found herself clutching his arm, grateful for the steadying grip.

As they maneuvered their way through the crowd, Mac wondered if Dick could see anything over all the bodies. Oh, how she wished to be taller.

Suddenly they were clear and Mac could breath again. Dick's arm immediately dropped and he stepped around her to lead the way into the kitchen. Mac knew that it was far less packed in there, but she'd always hated crowds, so she hurried to keep up with Dick, glancing anxiously from side to side in his wake.

After coming to a stop, she waited while he did something mysterious with the keg and the cooler next to it. Moving surreptitiously into the space between Dick's side and the wall, she tried to breathe normally. When he turned back around, he was holding a cup and an unopened Sprite. "Here," he said, shoving the can into her hand.

She took it automatically only to frown down at it uncomprehendingly. Had Dick Casablancas, the Party King, just handed her a soda?

"They didn't have any root beer," he added, as if in explanation, searching the room for someone.

She forced her fingers to move correctly and pull the tab. Taking a sip, she tilted her head up to look at Dick, glad he was at least partially blocking her from the rest of the room.

In the full light of the kitchen, she blinked, taking in Dick's jeans and black shirt. Once the initial shock diminished, she quelled the urge to laugh and quickly raised the can to her mouth to block her smile. By the time he turned back to her, she had herself under control.

He stared down for so long that she lowered her soda. "What?" She held perfectly still, refusing to brush at her face worriedly under his gaze.

"What happened to the magenta?" he asked, sounding genuinely confused.

She involuntarily raised a hand to touch her hair before yanking it down and shrugging casually. "It faded. I didn't redo it."

"What color are you doing next?"

"I'm not," she muttered, looking past Dick's arm to the small sliver of room she could see.

A girl stumbled into the kitchen doorway, landing on an equal drunk male who laughed and lifted her back to her feet. The girl smiled sloppily and threw her arms around the guy's neck. Mac eased a little closer to the wall, trying to use Dick's body to block out the image.

"Orange," Dick said decisively.

Her eyes jerked back to his face. "What?"

"You should dye it orange."

She stared at him for a moment, but couldn't quite decide if he was serious or not. Banking on serious, she narrowed her eyes. "Isn't that a little…festive?"

He shrugged agreeably and eyed her hair thoughtfully. "How about green?"

"Drink your beer," she countered, taking a sip of her Sprite. Dick glanced down at his cup in surprise, as if he'd forgotten it was even there.

They drank in silence for a while, Mac growing tenser the music and shrieks grew louder. Then someone tapped Dick's shoulder and he turned away and bent his head to hear what his frat brother was saying.

After a minute, Dick turned back to Mac and jerked his thumb behind him. "I have to go," he yelled over the roaring music. She nodded, trying not to look too nervous. "Don't put that down," he added, pointing at her soda as he walked backwards away from her.

She raised her can in a mock salute, eyes glued to his black t-shirt as he wove through the crowded kitchen until he disappeared into the undulating mass. Swallowing thickly, Mac tamped down on her panic and looked around the kitchen.

She jumped as a couple crashed through the doorway, mouths glued to each other. Eyes wide, she watched nervously as they veered towards her, wincing as they banked sharply to land with a bone-jarring thud against the counter.

_Definitely time to go_.

As they continued to make out, not registering her presence, Mac set her soda on the counter and walked straight out of the doorway. Her determination provided unprecedented strength and she easily pushed her way through the crowded dance floor. Body after body brushed and slammed against hers as the panic rose to a crescendo inside her. When she finally pushed through the other side, she rushed to the opposite wall of the entryway where she promptly collapsed, gasping for breath.

"Mac!"

Eyes snapping open, she found Veronica dragging Logan towards her from the edge of the crowd.

"Thank God, I thought we'd never find you," Veronica said, coming to a stop in front of her. "Where'd you go after we lost you? We waited for you in the kitchen."

"I got turned around," Mac explained. "I didn't get to the kitchen for awhile."

"This place is a zoo," Logan agreed, a grin teasing the corners of his mouth.

Mac tried to smile, but her breathing wasn't even yet, and her lips felt shaky. But her friends didn't seem to notice, so maybe she was convincing. Logan took one last look around the room and nodded towards the door.

"This is gonna get busted soon. Let's get while the going's good," he said, leaning down to nuzzle Veronica's neck.

Mac turned quickly and gratefully towards the door. As they were walking down the path to Logan's car, he suddenly asked, "Hey, you didn't happen to see Dick in there, did you? Veronica and I looked everywhere for him."

Keeping her eyes firmly ahead, she shook her head. "No," she lied easily. "Sorry."

"It's cool," Logan said with an elaborate sigh as they reached the Xterra. "He always comes home eventually."

Mac swallowed and waited for Logan to unlock the doors. She heard the mechanical whir, and pulled hers open. With one foot inside the car, she paused and glanced back at the house. The party was spilling out onto the lawn in a flurry of drunken stumbling, but the upstairs was dark.

She knew that the bedrooms were probably occupied, but from Logan's car the darkened windows seemed peaceful. As she finally pulled the door closed, she wondered if Dick was up there.

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matilda030788Hi and thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked the first chapter. Yeah, I hope we see some Mac/Dick in the 3rd season, too.

SatisfactoryInfluenceHi! I'm so glad you liked the beginning. I hope you liked this chapter as much. I love Veronica and Logan together, too. They're definitely my favorite, but Mac/Dick is a close second!

jacedesHi! Yeah, Quiet Dick is somehow almost hotter than loud obnoxious Dick. If that's possible. Maybe I just have a thing for tortured heroes, though.

FanFicFairy514Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked the first chapter. Hopefully the second met your expectations.

wantingchinoHi and thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked it. I guess this chapter answered your question, eh? Don't worry, I'll update again soon.

A.N. I should have a new chapter up with the next couple of days. Hope you all liked it!


	3. Chapter 3

A.N. Nope, don't own anything except my wishful thinking. That's ALL mine. Someone asked in a review, so I thought I would mention that this story starts out after the second season finale. Everything before is canon. So…I guess that means there are spoilers up through "Not Pictured."

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Mac dropped down into the seat across from Logan at his table in the quad. "I seriously need some computer science detox," she said, reaching over to steal one of his fries. "A girl just asked me if I knew where to get a good cup of coffee and I thought she was talking about Java script."

He smirked without looking up from his book. "Nerd."

Glaring, she tossed the fry she was holding at his nose. He sighed and shut his book with a snap. "Can I help you with something?"

"Must detox. Or will implode from knowledge overload."

"And how is this my problem?" he muttered grumpily.

"I will not hesitate to take you with me, Echolls."

Calmly, he set his book aside and picked up his cell phone. "It's always so nice to feel needed. My place, eight o'clock."

"Thank you," she said pointedly. Standing, she snagged another fry and picked up her bag.

"However." The word stopped her in her tracks and she looked back to find him shaking his phone at her. "I will not have you and your cronies drinking me out of house and dorm. BYOB."

She met his eyes in silence for a minute. "I'll try to contain myself," she deadpanned, slinging the bag strap over her shoulder. "Enjoy your lunch, Logan," she added, rolling her eyes and walking away.

xxx

"This is so not what I meant," Mac muttered into her soda, watching the people on the impromptu dance floor writhe against one another.

The throbbing bass was beginning to give her a headache and the dim lighting made finding anyone she knew in the mass of strangers just that much more difficult. Veronica and Logan had, once again, disappeared into the throng on the pretense of finding beverages. Funny how they had veered away from the kitchen to parts unknown.

Sighing, Mac set down her empty cup on the nearby table and began edging her way towards the door. She jerked back as a couple stumbled directly in front of her and landed against the wall with a thud. Staring in disbelief, she shook her head then pushed through a small crowd of people to get to the living room.

Suddenly, someone grabbed her arm and she whirled on the attacker, barely containing a scream. Her wide eyes focused on Veronica, who was laughing and more than a few sheets to the wind.

"Hi," she screamed over the music. "Having fun?"

Mac forced a smile. "Yeah, this is great. Exactly what I needed."

Veronica stopped and frowned at the empty space next to Mac. "Where's Wallace?"

"No show. Considering the team's new practice schedule, I'm not really surprised," Mac said wryly, shoving her hands into her back pockets.

"You seen Dick around?" Logan asked Mac, leaning over from a separate conversation.

Mac started to shake her head, opening her mouth to answer in the negative, but Veronica beat her to the punch. Literally. Rubbing his arm, Logan stared at his girlfriend with a bland expression. "Why do you keep asking her that? Why would she have seen Dick?"

"Well, he does live here," he pointed out, nodding as the guy he'd been talking to wandered off.

"When he deigns to provide his presence," she countered, folding her arms across her chest as she turned to Mac. "On weekends, he's never home. I don't know what he's doing, but he doesn't even sleep here."

Mac started to contradict her, but caught herself and bit the inside of her lip. Veronica didn't need an answer anyway; she was already turning to Logan. "Well speak of the devil and he shall appear," she said, her eyes catching on Dick's figure.

For a moment, Logan stood still, looking as uncomfortable as Mac felt. When Veronica refrained from adding anything, he stepped away from the girls to meet Dick at the door. Mac watched as they clapped high fives and spoke for a minute while Dick's eyes roved over the strangers in his living room. Finally, he sent a half grin in Logan's approximate direction and began pushing through the crowd in a beeline for his room.

Veronica sighed. "I don't hate him, you know."

Mac swallowed her exclamation of surprise and wrapped her arms around herself. "I know," she answered, eyes still following Dick's blonde head high above the others in the room.

And she did know. Veronica might blame Dick for what happened to her, but she didn't hate him. Mac understood that enigmatic feeling completely, but she didn't know how to tell Veronica that. She had spent too much time dodging Veronica's attempts to open the topic for discussion.

When Logan reached them, Veronica and Mac were standing quietly, unable to look at each other. Knowing Logan, he probably noticed, but refrained from comment. "Do you think that girl knows her pants are unzipped?" he asked instead, gesturing with a jerk of his head.

Mac casually leaned to the left, immediately spotting the girl Logan's chin was indicating. Her arms were thrown over her head in utter abandon, writhing wildly in what was obviously meant to be a seductive dance.

The sight made her cringe a little. "I'm going to get a soda. You guys want anything?" she called over the music.

Veronica's lips formed a moue for a second, but when she opened them to respond, Logan clapped a hand over her mouth. "She's fine. We're going to go get some water, right honey?" he pretended to ask her with a smile, while forcing her head up and down into a nod.

Mac took in Veronica's Glare of Doom and edged away. "Cool. See you lovebirds later. In one piece, I hope," she muttered to herself as she hurriedly pushed her way into the crowd.

The suite was large, but even with the crowd of people, it only took a few minutes to get from the entryway to the kitchen. She'd been surprised during her first visit. Somehow she'd expected Logan and Dick to require a more opulent housing situation. Instead, they'd discarded a mansion and penthouse for a dorm suite with the bare necessities: two bedrooms leading off of a large open room with a kitchen in one corner.

When Mac got to the kitchen, Dick was standing at the counter pouring a good amount of vodka into a red cup. Her heart thudded once extra hard then returned to its normal rhythm. Frozen with her toes up against the line of linoleum that marked the threshold between the kitchen and the living room, Mac stared at him. Should she say something or just walk away before he noticed her?

She never knew how he was going to react to her presence. He'd gone from months of avoiding and ignoring her to being a video game buddy when she was a lone and ignoring her whenever anyone else was around.

Dick glanced up while she was still trying to decide what to do, and his hand stilled in the middle of screwing the top back on the vodka bottle. He locked eyes with her for a few seconds, then raised his eyebrows and tilted the bottle towards her.

Mac blushed and shook her head quickly, stammering, "No thank you." She winced when she remembered that he couldn't hear her.

Shrugging, he set the bottle aside and swung the fridge door open. He leaned down to see inside and then raised his head to peer at her over the top of the door. He shouted something that she couldn't hear over the music, so she moved next to him and shook her head.

"Soda?" he repeated, pointing inside the fridge. When she nodded, he shouted again. "Coke?"

"Root beer?" Mac asked, and he glanced inside to check it out.

Emerging again, he shook his head. "Nada."

"Coke's fine."

When he straightened and kicked the door shut, he was holding a carton of orange juice and her soda. He handed her the can and turned back to his own drink.

"Thanks," she said, but of course he didn't hear her.

Tapping the top of the can, she pulled the tab, almost expecting it to explode all over her. It was something Dick would have done a year ago, shaking the can before handing it to her. To be more precise, _anything_ immature and mean spirited was something Dick would have done a year ago. But she wasn't sure she would have been a target. She hadn't even registered on his radar until she started dating his brother.

Now, however, Dick wasn't even paying attention to her. He was busy splashing Southern Comfort into his cup. She frowned. _Vodka and bourbon?_

Her limited experience with alcohol stemmed entirely from books and 09er parties attended with Cassidy. Her throat squeezed shut.

"Want some?"

It wasn't the sound of his voice that made her eyes snap up; it was the lilt of his words. When her eyes found his face, the smirk on his lips confirmed it. He was teasing her.

She swallowed hard and forced her features into a sardonic expression, despite her rolling stomach. "What is it?"

She hadn't thought it possible, but his smirk got smugger. "A Southern screw."

Her cheeks flamed, her eyes darting away from his. She tried to look casual as she glanced away and gulped down some of her soda, but she was sure she failed miserably. As she was trying to recover her dignity, a guy brushed past her, upsetting her. Once she'd regained her balance, she sighed and wiped at her sleeve, trying in vain to mop up the spilled soda.

She heard a holler from behind her and whirled in surprise to find the jerk who didn't watch where he was going offering his hand to Dick for a high five. The amusement was out of Dick's eyes now, she noticed, and the fact that she could see that so clearly despite the smile on his face made her back away from the kitchen.

Turning again, she plunged into the throng, for once glad of the crowded room. The more people in between her and that kitchen, the better.

xxx

She hadn't wanted to be alone with her thoughts, so she'd immersed herself in the crowd and put off leaving until the last possible second. A second that Veronica immediately rendered impossible by forcing Mac to promise not to walk home alone.

"Veronica, I live two buildings away."

"It's really late," she pointed out, swaying a bit on her feet.

Logan glanced up from his garbage bag. "You staying here, Mac? Good," he said when she opened her mouth to disagree. "You can help us clean up in the morning." He straightened and dropped a final cup into the trash bag.

"Really, I'm fine. It takes two minutes to get home from here."

"Last week, two guys were mugged walking across campus on Friday night. Both of them were over six feet tall. You're a bite sized morsel in comparison."

"Veronica, I don't even have a purse with me," Mac argued, beginning to feel desperate for escape.

"No," Veronica and Logan both said.

"Who's a bite sized morsel?"

The three of them looked up to find Dick stumbling out of his room towards the kitchen, barefoot but otherwise fully clothed. Mac cleared her throat and faced forward again. "Fine. I'll sleep on the couch."

When Mac came out of the bathroom off of Logan's room, he and Veronica were climbing into bed. "Night, Mac," the blonde called as she slid between the covers.

Mac smiled in the general direction of the bed and hurried out of the room. Sometimes Logan and Veronica were too domestic for her to take easily. She kept waiting for things to fall apart, but they didn't and it was starting to make her distinctly uncomfortable.

The living room was dark except for a lamp that Veronica must have turned on for her. Dick was still in the kitchen, nursing a bottle of water and apparently oblivious to her appearance. Walking to the couch, Mac began to unfold the blanket the married couple had left for her.

"Smash Brothers?" Dick asked from behind her.

Somehow unsurprised, Mac refolded the blanket and turned to sit on the couch while Dick set up the game. Glancing at Logan's closed door as Dick handed her a controller, she bit her lip and reached over to flick off the light.

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luvlogan-saraHi! Thanks for reviewing the fic. I'm glad you've liked the first couple of chapters. I hope this one was as good, despite Logan's sad lack of toga.

jacedesYeah, still waiting for the group convo. But don't worry, it's coming up in the next couple of chapters.

Beauty in my BreakdownHi and thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like the characterization. I was worried that I was making Dick too out of character, but he seems to be shaping up, which is a relief.

VMars13Hi! Thanks for reading and reviewing! I hope you liked this chapter, too.

LoVe23Hi! I'm glad you're enjoying the fic. Please keep reading!

AstraHi and thanks for reviewing! I was surprised how well Mac and Dick fit together, too. Opposites totally attract. And who could be more opposite, right:p

FanFicFairy514I'm glad you're still liking the story. I hope you liked this chapter, too.

wantingchinoHi! Thanks for reviewing! I was pretty happy with the party scene. Attentive Dick is just so…cute. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, too!

ThepersoniusedtobeHi! Thanks for reading and reviewing! I'm hoping that the transition between strangers to friends/lovers will be smooth in the fic. At least, that's what I'm going for. We'll see how it goes. :-p I hope you liked this chapter!

SeriousFanHi and thanks for reviewing! I'm sorry I didn't mention before that it was based on canon, but thanks for pointing it out. I hope you liked this chapter! Please keep reading!

litizrealHi and thanks for reviewing! I'm so hoping that RT creates a Mac/Dick subplot. I think it would be a dynamic storyline. Particularly since he could write it so much better than I ever could. :-p I hope you liked this chapter!

heatherHi! Thanks for reading and reviewing! I'm glad you're enjoying the fic. Like I told Thepersoniusedtobe, I'm hoping to make the love story a smooth transition. So I might make you crazy a bit longer. Don't hate me!

Miss Higher PowerHi! Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you've liked the story so far! I hope you enjoyed this last chapter, too!

CkAll shall be revealed in good time…That sounds a bit more mysterious than Dick really needs, but the time he spends holed up in his room will be addressed. Anyway, thanks for reviewing! I hope you liked this chapter!

A.N. Sorry this was a little short. But don't worry, another update will be on the way soon!


	4. Chapter 4

A.N. Don't own anything except my laptop and my imagination. Sorry this chapter took so long to post. For some reason, the ending was hard to get done.

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"I still say green," Dick reminded her, sending Captain Falcon into a roll on screen.

Mac shook her head. "I'll look like I'm molding. Red wouldn't look like a by-product of poor personal hygiene."

"No way, dude. Green's so much better than red." When she didn't immediately agree, Dick added, "Seriously, who's going to look at you and think 'Man, that dude has poor personal hygiene'?"

"Is this before or after finals?" Mac asked evenly, belching an egg out of Yoshi's mouth. Her teeth were beginning to clench.

"Dude. Gross."

Annoyance forced her to ask. "Has it escaped your notice that I'm female?"

Dick glanced at her. "What?"

"Dude is…Nevermind," she sighed after registering the innocent confusion on his face. "Look, I'm going for alternative, not alternative energy."

"What?" he spat out on a laugh.

She hid a smile. "Green says granola and biodiesel. Red is just…edgier."

"Red is predictable, Ghost World. Who else has green hair?"

Surprised, she glanced at him. He had a point. She was quiet for a moment until she could no longer stand his smug expression. "You done with midterms?"

Dick rolled his eyes. "Yes, oh Queen of Boring Topics, I'm done with midterms." The timer ran out on the match and the game declared Dick the winner. Mac sighed as he raised his hands in the air. "Yes!" he said in an exaggeratedly deep voice.

Mac glanced out the window and was surprised to find the sky turning gray. "What time is it?" she asked, craning her neck, trying to spot her cell phone.

"5:36," Dick said after glancing at his own phone. "Guess beauty sleep isn't an option now, huh?"

Mac blinked at him. "What are you talking about?"

"That's what Madison used to say when she wanted to leave something early. That she needed her beauty sleep."

Laughing, Mac stared at him. "You're kidding. She actually said that?"

"Every time," Dick said, glancing at her with a crooked grin.

Shaking her head, she let the laugh trail off before stating, "Dick, I think you'll find that Madison and I are nothing alike."

"Well, duh. I'd already figured that one out, Ghost World."

He wasn't looking at her when he said it, but she could hear the teasing smirk in his voice. She shook her head, a little amused.

"So, if beauty sleep isn't an option, should we switch to Mario Kart?" Mac asked, getting up and heading to the tv.

"Actually."

Mac glanced over her shoulder to find Dick staring out the window. When he turned back to her, his face was excited. "Let's get out of here."

"What?" Mac asked her hand still stretched out towards the tv.

"I know this cove. The surf is great in the mornings."

"The surf?"

"You know, waves, foam, boards." He grinned as if imparting great knowledge. "Surf."

She raised her eyebrows. "It's not even six."

"Yeah, we'll have the entire ocean to ourselves," he said, turning off the tv and smiling at her.

In the two months that they'd been doing…this, she and Dick had restricted their…acquaintance to this very room. They hadn't even spoken to each other in public, let alone gone anywhere in each other's company. This was a line that they had blockaded, sand-bagged and dug a moat around.

Biting the inside of her cheek, she shifted her eyes from Dick's face over her shoulder to Logan's closed door. Guilt flooded her mind at the thought of Veronica sleeping peacefully in the next room. What was she even considering doing? Veronica was her best friend.

She turned back to Dick and caught the excitement in his eyes. He needed to do this and would go without her if she said no. Suddenly, it struck her that if she didn't go with him right then, he wasn't going to ask again.

Logan and Veronica probably wouldn't even be up until noon. Wrapping her arms around herself, she nodded quickly. "Okay."

The drive took a good forty minutes and was completed entirely in silence. Mac stared out the window as Dick drove along the winding cliffs. It wasn't until he had parked and she was trailing him down a precarious path worn into the dirt and rocks of the sheer cliff that Mac realized he hadn't brought his surfboard.

Dick collapsed fluidly twenty feet from the line between wet and dry sand near the water and bent his leg so he could rest his arm on his knee. Feeling stiff and awkward, Mac eased herself down next to him. While Dick stared silently out at the water, Mac shifted to get comfortable and wrinkled her nose at the sand pressed into her palms. Holding her hands as far away from her body as possible, she brushed them against each other again and again until all the sand had fallen off.

Satisfied, she faced the water only to spot sand clinging to the knees of her corduroys. Now she remembered why she hated the beach. Sand and sunburns.

"Don't come to the beach much?"

Mac didn't glance at him as she gingerly rested her elbows on her knees. "Whatever gave it away?"

"Your usual pastiness was a bit tip off."

"Hey, when you're vaguely resembling the leather interior of your precious SUV, my skin will still be as youthful and dewy as it is today."

"Dewy?" He laughed, finally tearing his eyes away from the water.

"Dewy," she said firmly, locking her arms around her legs. The sun had just been clearing the horizon when they got out of the car, so the world was still gray and cold. Even the water looked gray at this time of day.

When Dick spoke again, the sun still hadn't risen over the cliff behind them, so couldn't have been more than a few minutes. But it had felt like over an hour to Mac, whose squirming was resulting in even more sand finding the openings in her pants. Yet, somehow, the sand wasn't the source of her discomfort.

"I tried to blame Logan and Veronica." Despite the roaring of the water, his voice seemed loud in her ears.

It was so abrupt that it took Mac a minute to figure out what he was talking about. "Why?" she finally asked, surprisingly eager to hear the answer.

Dick shrugged, eyes fixed to the waves roughly rolling onto the sand. "They were there."

She heard the silent _on the roof_ that went along with the statement ring in her mind, and she had to hide a shudder. Turning it into a shiver, she pulled down her sleeves as far as three inches of cap sleeves would go and hugged her legs closer. "What made you stop?"

He was quiet a minute, reaching up to scratch an eyebrow before answering. "I found out what happened to Veronica."

Her head jerked around to look at him. "You didn't know?"

She hadn't meant to say it and she expected him to look uncomfortable at the question, but he just looked blank. "Beav—he told me nothing happened. That he puked and couldn't get it—" he stopped. "That nothing happened," he repeated.

She didn't say anything. She didn't ask, didn't accuse, but Dick tried to explain anyway.

"After Lilly died, we kinda needed someone to blame for Duncan and Logan. I mean, they were—they used to—" he stopped abruptly sounding frustrated.

After a moment of roaring waves, he continued without trying to explain. "When her dad screwed up and Logan started wigging out, we just followed his lead, I guess."

He swallowed and shook his head. She watched his profile, but he didn't turn to face her. "I've never done that to anyone. I don't know why I asked him to," he said quietly. He tossed his hair out of his face and picked up a twig from the beach.

It wasn't an excuse; nothing could excuse it. But she felt a little better discovering that he knew that. And she felt horrible for the relief she felt.

"Sometimes I can't look at Veronica," she offered evenly. "Knowing what happened."

"I couldn't pack up his room. I couldn't even go upstairs in the house. I just hired a moving crew and had them put everything in storage."

"I dream about him. Even when I'm awake. Sometimes I'm sitting in lecture and then I'm remembering a conversation we had last year. It feels so normal."

They couldn't stop talking. It was like some floodgate had opened. At least, Mac knew that was how she felt. Then he said something that made her lose her breath.

"I can't sleep. Ever. When I close my eyes, I see him. And the car."

Mac stared at him in horror. He didn't give her a chance to think of anything to say. "So I just lie there. I'll drift off for a half hour here, twenty minutes there. But that's it."

Snapping the stick into smaller pieces, Dick lapsed into silence. Mac watched him toss one of the pieces across the sand. His gray t-shirt fluttered in the rough breeze from the ocean.

"You saw him?"

Her voice was quiet, even hard for her to hear, but Dick nodded without hesitation. "I had to identify him."

_He saw him._

Bile rose in Mac's throat. By the time she'd cleared it, Dick had pushed himself off the sand and was walking towards the water. As she watched his large form, he yanked off his shirt, dropped it in his wake and walked straight into the waves. She blinked in surprise and was on her feet as he dove under.

She counted the seconds, her heart pounding, but he surfaced almost right away and she clutched the hem of her shirt in relief. Sitting again, she watched him the entire time he was in the water, holding her breath when he dove under.

The sun was well over the cliff when Dick came walking out of the water, and several surfers were pulling boards out of their trucks. He calmly walked up the beach, bending to pick up his shirt without breaking stride and then continuing his trek past her.

Scrambling to her feet, she hurried to catch up with him, knowing she looked idiotic trying to jog in the sand. He, on the other hand, looked perfectly at home as he moved easily, water sliding down his body.

At the top of the cliff, one of the surfers noticed them and jerked his head at Dick, who just nodded back and unlocked the car. As Dick pulled out of the dirt lot, she watched the surfers descend to the beach, their boards bobbing over their heads as they climbed down.

"Did you love him?"

Turning away from the window, she eyed a drop of water that seemed precariously balanced on the tip of one of Dick's wet, matted curls. Had she? At the time, she had been sure she had. But now she was forced to wonder if she'd even known him, let alone loved him.

When she shrugged, Dick ran a hand through his hair and the droplet fell. "Yeah. Me, too."

xxx

"Unlimited amounts of food. Long weekend. Tv specials. And, best of all, no work." Turning to look at Mac as they picked up their bags, Veronica grinned. "I love Thanksgiving."

Laughing, Mac pulled up the zipper on her sweatshirt and stuffed her hands in the pockets. "You'd love any holiday that let us off school."

"Yeah, the food is just extra."

"So what are your big plans for this fortuitous occasion?" Mac asked, glancing at her friend as they pushed out of the lecture hall.

"Well, we're having dinner with Wallace and his family tomorrow. And then I plan to spend the entire weekend lying on my back on the couch. Except when I get up for more food. Crawling that five feet to the kitchen is going to be tough." Veronica sighed contentedly and smiled at Mac. "You?

"Dinner with the family. At which I can thank my blessings that Professor Snyder assigned a working program for Monday. Joy."

"What?" Veronica asked, genuine horror coloring her tone. "Aren't there Geneva codes against assigning work over holiday breaks?"

"Cruel and unusual education," Mac groaned, tucking hair behind her ear. "What's Logan doing?"

"I'm not sure," Veronica said, pulling her keys out of her bag. "He turned down my invitation to Thanksgiving. He said something about my Dad and a gun, but it wasn't very clear."

They reached Veronica's car and Mac watched as her friend took the top down. "I just hope he and Dick don't try to deep fry a turkey. That has tragedy written all over it."

"Are they seriously going to try that?"

"Logan threatened to," Veronica said thoughtfully. Then at Mac's worried expression, she shook her head. "No. It would be way too much work for them. They'll probably sit in front of the tv with their library of video games and order take out from somewhere really expensive."

"Well that's a relief at least," Mac said as the blonde opened her car door and slid behind the wheel.

"Okay, I will see you on Monday. Give me a call if you manage to miraculously finish your project early."

"And while you're lying in front of the tv as they play the year's first Christmas movies, remember me. At home. Chained to my computer." Mac sighed dramatically. Then she waved quickly and turned to go as Veronica began to pull out.

She was halfway back to her dorm before her cell rang. Checking the id, she flipped open the phone. "Hi, Mom. I'm almost on my way."

"Good. I've been looking forward to you coming back all week." Her mother laughed. "Scratch that. All semester."

"Mom," Mac whined with a smile. "I was home three weeks ago."

"Ah, yes, I'd almost forgotten the infamous hit and run laundry episode."

"Hey, I stayed for dinner." Taking the keys out of her bag, she unlocked the front door to the dorm and held it open for a girl with three bags. The girl smiled vaguely and Mac returned the gesture, having no idea who the girl was.

"Now you're sure you don't want to invite anyone back here for dinner tomorrow."

Mac squeezed her eyes shut as she pressed the button for the elevator. "Who is it that you've been wanting me to invite?" she asked wearily.

"Sweetheart, there must be some out of state people on your floor. Not everyone can just hop over for Thanksgiving."

"You know everyone I know, Mom. Veronica, Wallace, Logan." _And Dick_, she added, but didn't think her mother wanted to hear that she was spending time with her dead boyfriend's older brother. Especially one she'd heard her mother refer to as a "Dick Casablancas' psychopath of a son" on more than one occasion.

"Cindy," her mother was saying now, the hesitancy in her voice narrowing Mac's attention as the elevator dinged. "You have to at least make an effort."

The tired quality to her voice made Mac cringe as the doors slid open. "Mom, I'm getting on the elevator so I'm gonna lose you. I'll be home in an hour."

"Cindy—"

Mac flipped the phone shut and watched as her screen informed her that she had exited her service range. "Meredith," she muttered to herself as she finally remembered the girl from the front door. She lived on Mac's floor, two doors down.

xxx

Mac rested her chin in her hand and stared sightlessly at the glowing screen. She'd turned it down to the dimmest screen possible, but it still hurt her eyes. By now, she'd accepted the fact that she would be blind by thirty.

Dinner had been rushed, what with her brother's impatience to go to his friend Josh's house for the night. Ryan had fidgeted during the course of the meal while their parents had attempted to interrogate Mac on every aspect of her education, social life, dorm food and health.

Oddly, she found herself beholden to Ryan, though he would never know.

Now she was trying to complete at least part of the code necessary to make her program run before throwing herself onto the bed for a long night's sleep. She wasn't really getting anywhere, though.

The phone rang and Mac's eyebrows drew together. Digging through her bag, she found her cell and checked the caller id. Flipping it open, she smirked into the phone. "Double o seven."

"Q. What sort of trouble are you up to tonight?"

Mac fell backwards on her bed. "The same trouble I told you I'd be in."

"You're actually coding on our first night off?"

The appalled note to Veronica's voice made Mac snort a bitter laugh. "No, I'm riding a painted pony."

"Well, at least you can let your spinning wheel spin," Veronica quipped nonchalantly.

Mac rolled her eyes and tucked an arm behind her head. "So what exciting things are you up to?"

"Well, I just watched Dad chase down another bail jumper on live television. So, you know, the usual."

"Interesting."

"Yeah, he got the call earlier today. This guy was really bad at being a fugitive. He went straight back to his girlfriend's house."

"Jeez, that is stupid."

"Who'd had him arrested for violating a restraining order right before they reconciled. In court. The judge probably would have just fined the guy since the woman stated an intention to repeal the order, but he just had to run."

"So, if she didn't call the police, who did?" Mac asked.

"A neighbor. The guy just walked up to the front door and knocked."

"You're kidding."

"Please, like I could make this stuff up." Mac raised her eyebrows. "Okay, maybe I could, but I didn't."

"When's your dad getting home?"

"I don't know. We're not heading over to Wallace's until two, so he's got plenty of time. And he's only in LA." There was a pause and then Veronica giggled. "You're not going to believe where Logan went tonight, though."

Mac bit back a smile. "Where?"

"A strip club."

"What?" Mac sat up on the bed in shock.

"Yeah. Dick's frat brothers dragged them to a club downtown. Logan's called three times so far. Apparently, the guy in charge didn't check the club's calendar and they walked into the middle of a Ladies' Night."

It took a moment but then Mac was laughing so hard she could barely breathe. "Logan said," Veronica continued, gasping for breath of her own. "Logan said that they walked in right as the guy's thong came flying across the room. It hit the wall" gasp "right next to them!"

Mac was bent over, cradling her stomach as she listened to Veronica sob with laughter on the other end. After a few minutes, a knock came at Mac's door and she looked up to find her mother peeking around the corner. She smiled and mouthed "Good night." Mac wiped her eye with a smile and waved as her mother disappeared again.

"Uh oh," she heard Veronica say. "The boy toy is calling again."

"Go, answer and report back," Mac ordered, still sounding a little shaky.

"Aye aye, Captain. Have a good Thanksgiving. Say hi to your folks for me."

"Yeah, you, too. Say hi to everyone," Mac returned awkwardly. When they hung up, Mac sat there for a minute staring at the glowing screen of her phone, trying to imagine Dick's face as a man's thong came flying past him to hit the wall near his head.

Fresh peals of laughter filled the room as Mac collapsed backwards on her bed.

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xxtisheryxx I'm so glad you're enjoying the story! You seem to have picked up on exactly what I'm trying to convey with Dick. That makes me happy.

tchele I'm glad you're liking Mac/Dick. There are some other great stories out there with them, but I do agree that LoVe is the best. I hope you liked this chapter!

Alwayzpurple Yay! I'm glad you're still liking it! I hope this chapter was up to par. Keep reading and reviewing cuz you're really good for my morale!

Miss Higher Power Inquiring minds soon shall know. Don't worry, all shall be revealed…Thanks for reviewing! I hope you're still enjoying the story.

SatisfactoryInfluence Your reviews rock. They keep me inspired. :-p Yeah, Dick and Mac are pretty depressed, but that will lessen with time. I think this chapter kind of showed that. Maybe. Possibly.

Beauty in my Breakdown Thanks for reviewing! The story/relationship is moving a lot faster than I expected it to, actually. At this point, I have no idea when things are going to happen. They seem to be writing themselves! I hope you liked this chapter and please keep reviewing!

wantingchino Yay for Mac/Dick! No worries, as I told Beauty, the story is moving a lot faster than I thought it would. So be on the look out for Mac/Dick moments…soon maybe? ((evil grin))

jacedes Sometimes I want to smoosh them together, too. And Veronica and Logan…wait, I'm already doing that. :-p Thanks for reviewing and please keep it up! It makes me feel inspired. 

litizreal Sigh. You're right, RT putting them together is a long shot, but I'm still going to keep my fingers crossed next season. Though I heard Ryan Hansen is leaving the show as a regular! GASP!

LoVe23 I'm hoping that Dick will turn out to be much less mysterious than he appears. Mac is sure to figure him out eventually, right? Thanks for reviewing and I hope you're still enjoying the story!

FanFicFairy514 Thanks for reviewing again! I'm glad you're still liking the story. This chapter, to me, seemed like a large leap for Mac and Dick, so I think their bonding is speeding up a bit. I hope you liked it!

finkpishnets Hi and thanks for reviewing! I'm glad the development is coming across well; I wanted it to seem smooth and believable. I'm glad that's coming across. Veronica and Logan are inevitably adorable together; he's just too enamored. I hope you liked this chapter!

Gunny I'm so glad you like the story! It's great to find people who agree that this would be a compelling storyline in VM. (Are you listening Mr. Thomas?) Please keep reading and reviewing! Your reviews are officially awesome.

Lindsay Hi! I've so been Mac while wondering about what a guy was thinking. Except, without her technological skill. I'm glad you're liking the story!


	5. Chapter 5

AN Sorry it's been so long since my last chapter. I had to move pretty suddenly, and what with the packing, unpacking, getting to know new roommates, I kinda lost track of where I was in the story. I hope you guys like the new chapter!

AN2 It's finally letting me update on my old account, so I thought I would repost this in the correct place. Chapter 6 will be up soon.

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"So did you guys end up deep-frying a turkey?" Mac asked.

"What?" Dick jabbed his thumb against the button, trying to roll out of the way of her attack.

"I was just wondering what you and Logan did for Thanksgiving," she said innocently. "Did you go out?" She bit back a grin as Dick's character jerked off the platform.

"Uh, no, not…not really," he muttered, his leg jiggling as he waited for his character to reappear on screen. "What'd you do?"

She smirked a bit at the eagerness in his voice. "Nothing. Worked."

_Now lull him into a false sense of security_, she coached herself, allowing the room to fall silent. She could feel the tension radiating off of him and across the three feet between them, but he didn't say anything and she calmly continued to dominate the fight on screen. That alone would have tipped her off that something was wrong if she hadn't already known.

A couple minutes passed and then Dick set his controller on the table, standing suddenly. She pressed pause and waited while he wandered towards the kitchen. When he came back, he was carrying two brown bottles. He handed her one and resumed his seat on the couch. Glancing down, she blinked at the label.

_Virgil's root beer._

Biting her lip to tamp down the odd urge to giggle, she set down her own controller and tried to twist off the top.

"Here," Dick said, holding out his hand for her bottle as he set his on the coffee table.

_Bet that's not root beer_, she thought, relinquishing the bottle and turning back to the game. He twisted off the cap and set her soda on the table in front of her. "Thanks," she said absently.

She saw him shrug out of the corner of her eye and take a swig of his beer. Her eyes landed on the root beer bottle and she smiled softly. Apparently he and Logan had at least gone out to go shopping during break. Biting her lip, she looked back at him and saw the anxiety tightening his features. She suppressed a sigh and took pity on him, deciding not to dig anymore about the strip club.

He picked his controller back up and they started to fight again. Mac could tell he was starting to relax because his playing improved tenfold. It was annoying really.

When he scored the winning hit, making Mac's player fly off screen, he muttered, "Boo-yaw."

She blinked at the screen for a moment, then smiled evilly.

"You know, I hear flying thongs are a real danger in Neptune," she said abruptly, laughing as beer sprayed out of Dick's mouth. Oh well, resolutions were made to be broken.

xxx

Mac sighed and glared at Logan and Wallace as they elbowed each other on the couch. "Chill, Echolls."

Logan didn't spare him a glance. "Pot, meet Kettle," he muttered, jabbing Wallace a little harder.

Rolling her eyes, Mac highlighted part of her code and compared it to the sample in the book. Hers was better: concise and more elegant. But she knew from experience that the professor wouldn't appreciate it if she tried to "grand stand" in her homework.

Mumbling to herself, she switched the code around before going back to check that it would still function properly. She executed a trail run and blinked when an error message appeared.

"What?" She stared blankly at the screen. "Damn."

With a sigh, she hunched over the computer and went over the code line by line. The crink in her neck was starting to ache again from her uninterrupted position hunched over the keyboard. Stupid professor wanting it one stupid way.

"Work, damn you," she muttered, jabbing at a key with too much force.

Veronica looked up from her own computer. "Problems?"

"Bad code," Mac replied absently, eyes moving carefully over the symbols.

At the fourteenth line, she stopped to rub her eyes, positive that they were permanently crossed. When she opened them again, a brown bottle filled her field of vision. She wrapped her fingers around the neck and glanced up at Dick gratefully, but he wasn't even looking at her.

"Thanks," she said, watching him drop onto the sofa next to her.

He cracked his own lid off and tossed it on the coffee table. "Whatever."

Taking a swig of the root beer, she closed her eyes for a moment to let the bubbles burst on her tongue. Fortified, she turned back to the computer and focused once again on the code.

After a moment, the unprecedented silence of the room made her glance up again. As soon as she did, Wallace and Logan's heads jerked back to the screen in unison. "Man, I'm not even going to start on the jumpsuit," Wallace said, jump-kicking Logan's vinyl clad character.

"At least I'm not sporting a cape."

Mac tried to catch Dick's eye, but he didn't seem to be paying attention, busy texting someone on his phone. Shaking off the sudden paranoia, Mac turned back to her code. But the creepy feeling that everyone was staring at her remained. She surreptitiously looked at Veronica out from under her lashes and caught her friend doing the same.

Both of them froze for a second before immediately dropping the pretense and raising their heads to stare at each other. Mac furrowed her brow and shook her head, silently questioning Veronica, whose eyes immediately locked on and widened at the root beer before returning to Mac.

Mac could feel a blush working its way up her neck and she moved a shoulder slightly to indicate her own confusion. "Root beer," she mouthed, turning her head farther towards Veronica so the boys wouldn't see.

Veronica shook her head almost violently, catching Logan's attention. She smiled sweetly at him and his eyes immediately narrowed to small slits. Hurriedly, Veronica dropped her eyes back to her computer and began typing.

In the blessed reprieve, Mac had never felt more beholden to Logan in her life. But when he turned his suspicious gaze from Veronica to Mac, her body quickly hunched back over the laptop.

"Dude, I'm ordering pizza."

Mac raised her head and watched blandly as Dick stood and walked into his bedroom, already dialing. Dick's total obliviousness was sort of endearing really.

Four pizzas arrived twenty minutes later, more than enough for four people. When the tops were flipped open and slices handed out, Veronica sent Mac another pointed look over a slice laden with vegetables and lacking any source of protein.

Mac studiously avoided her friend's gaze.

xxx

"I hate finals," Mac groaned, collapsing backwards into a corner of Logan's couch.

"Seriously," Wallace agreed, shutting the door to the apartment and dropping his jacket on a chair.

Veronica barely looked up from her textbook as Wallace settled himself next to her on the cushions. "Working here."

"You know, I really think that too much studying numbs your brain. When the final comes around, you can't think anymore. What good is that?"

"You just don't want to read _The Sound and the Fury_," Mac pointed out, reaching behind Veronica to poke Wallace's shoulder.

"Working here."

"I cannot tell a lie," Wallace said dramatically, placing a hand over his chest.

Mac tilted her head to the side. "You should have taken drama."

"Or history," he agreed as they both settled themselves against the couch arms.

"Working here."

"She said, with a note of desperation," Mac intoned, poking Veronica's leg with the toe of her shoe.

"It's funny how she thinks that'll actually get rid of us. Give up now, V, before you hurt yourself."

"For the love of all that is holy," Veronica cried, throwing her head back to address the ceiling.

They all froze for a moment, waiting for something to happen, then Mac shrugged. "Nope, still here."

"Argh!" Veronica dropped her head onto the textbook in her lap.

"Smash Brothers?" Wallace asked while Veronica groaned from her lap.

"I'm totally Captain Falcon," Mac said, jumping over the back of the couch and heading to the fridge. "You want a soda?"

Wallace looked at her strangely. "I'm okay, thanks."

"I'll take arsenic," Veronica called, her voice muffled by the hand she was rubbing over her face.

"Seems the boy toy is fresh out," Mac said, checking the contents of the fridge. "Will root beer do?"

An incoherent mumble came from Veronica's general vicinity and Wallace grinned at her prone form. "I think that was a yes."

"Totally a yes," Mac agreed, bringing over two bottles.

Wallace sent her another odd look before shaking his head and handing her a controller. She smiled at him and took a swig of her root beer.

Veronica sighed and closed her book before setting it aside. When she twisted the top off of her soda, Mac smiled at her and offered another controller. "Yoshi's up for grabs."

"You do realize that if I don't ace this final, I will devote my sudden excess of free time to making your lives miserable?" Her calm expression as she took the controller was actually more frightening than the words themselves.

"Scary thought," Mac muttered.

"V, you've been studying the same thing for three hours straight. You need a break."

Veronica raised an eyebrow at Wallace. "Because too much studying will render my powers of deduction useless, my dear Wallace?"

"Something like that," he agreed, obviously ignoring the sarcasm dripping from Veronica's voice. Mac hid a smile, her eyes never leaving the television screen.

"One week, four finals to go," Veronica muttered, viciously attacking Wallace's Eskimos.

"Believe me, you have it easy," Wallace scoffed. "Mac's got all four finals in a two day block."

Veronica's head whipped around. "What?"

"He speaks but the truth, unfortunately," she confirmed bitterly. "Monday, I've got lit and multi-variable calculus. Tuesday, I have my cs courses."

"I thought you had projects due for cs," she protested, seeming not to notice the imminent death of her character.

Mac nodded and jumped to avoid the twin Eskimos. "I do. But we still have a test. It's supposed to be one piece of code and we have to figure out why it won't run."

"You have to fix a program in a three hour block?"

"No, it's just a paper problem. It's basically to test whether or not we can look at a code and see what's wrong with it. It's only supposed to last an hour."

"Oh," Veronica said. "Well that doesn't sound too bad. How long does it usually take you to spot a problem?"

"Me? Depending on length half an hour, tops. But he said that he doesn't expect most of us to pass, so I'm a little nervous," Mac muttered.

"I'm kicking both your butts," Wallace pointed out smugly as the timer wound down.

"You're sure showing us who's boss." Veronica fluttered her lashes at him and he smiled sourly.

Loud whooping filled the hallway outside the door and their heads involuntarily swiveled towards the noise. They watched the door swing open and Logan appear in the doorway, expression resolutely neutral, as Dick—now in surround sound—yelled triumphantly behind him.

"Who's done with finals? Oh, that's right, the Dick is done with finals."

"A more fitting moniker has never graced my ears," Veronica muttered. A second later, she froze and slid an apologetic look towards her right that Mac immediately glanced away from.

As the door slammed shut behind them, Dick followed Logan into the room with a jovial saunter. On the way to the kitchen, Logan leaned down over the back of the couch and kissed Veronica's cheek before dropping his books on the counter and flinging open the fridge.

Wallace watched Dick's white man boogie for a moment before shaking his head as if to rid his mind of the image. "Man, how can you be done with finals already? They haven't even started yet."

Dick shrugged and caught the bottle of beer that flew at him from the kitchen one handed. "None of my classes have tests."

"What are you taking? Bowling?" Wallace asked, staring in disbelief and, Mac noted, a little envy. Veronica shared an amused smile with Logan as he dropped into an armchair with his textbook and propped his feet on the coffee table.

"Among other things," Dick said, twisting the cap off his beer and tossing it blindly at the trashcan. Mac didn't have to look to know that it had gone in. He had too much practice to miss a straight shot.

"Remind me again why we signed up for American Literature?" Wallace asked, staring at the wall in front of him. Mac smiled wanly and didn't answer, her eyes riveted to Dick as he strode across the room.

Without lifting his eyes from his book, Logan raised his hand for a high five as Dick passed him and disappeared into his bedroom. The door closed behind him and Mac stared with wide eyes at the centerfold. For the first time in months, her stomach roiled uncomfortably.

He was too bubbly, his smile too infectious. She couldn't handle it; she had to get out. Standing, she quickly shoved past Logan's legs and made a beeline for the front door. "Gotta go, guys."

"But—"

"Ghost World," she heard behind her. Her eyes landed longingly on the door, but she composed her face into the semblance of normalcy everyone expected from her.

Turning, she spotted him leaning against his doorframe and met his eyes, bluer than ever and—she would have sworn—twinkling in his excitement. Carefully keeping her expression neutral, she raised her eyebrows slightly.

"Where you going?" he asked, beer bottle dangling from his fingers as if it was just another extension of his hand. "The party's just getting started."

Conscious of the three pairs of eyes now locked on her, she forced her expression to remain bland. "Your jubilation just reminded me of how very not done with finals I am," she told him, shoving her hands into her pockets. "My laptop beckons."

Rather than answer, Dick straightened and padded into the living room barefoot. Dropping onto the couch, he took a swig from his bottle and picked up a controller.

"Smash brothers?" he asked, kicking Logan in the shin without meeting his gaze.

Logan swiftly looked away from Mac and snapped his book shut. "Uh, sure."

"I'm totally those little Eskimos," Dick informed him evenly.

Logan grabbed the other controller off the coffee table and trained his eyes on the television. Mac thought the level of concentration on his face was a bit too enthusiastic considering that Dick hadn't even started the game yet.

Realizing that she was still just standing there with her hands in her pockets, Mac spun and flung open the door. "Bye," she called over her shoulder, practically sprinting into the hall.

"Bye," she heard several voices chorus back. Dick's voice wasn't among them.

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xxtisheryxx I'm glad you liked that scene. It took me a while to stop laughing in order to type it out. Just the thought…oh man. So funny. I hope you liked this chapter too!

finkpishnets I think they really needed to acknowledge that Cassidy is still very much there for both of them. That's not over, either. Sadly, they didn't really leave the room in this chapter. At least, not together. Poor Dick. (Smiles evilly)

Gunny I love damaged guys, too. They're definitely the most interesting characters, I think. I'm glad you liked the chapter and thank you for reviewing!

moustrich Hi! Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter. I hope this one was just as good!

luvlogan-sara Yes! I love the possibilities for Dick.

Miss Higher Power Everybody should be happy about flying freak flags! Silly Dick. :-p

litizreal The world is so better in my head. But I did hear that LoVe will be together at the beginning of the season at least! So maybe this world is improving? I'm glad you liked the chapter!

JaysBaby I'm glad you like the story! Hopefully, I'll be channeling some more romantic Mac/Dick moments soon.

redbanker I'm really happy that you like the way the story is going. It's always good to hear that someone is enjoying my brain child. I just hope that this chapter was as good.

Beauty in my Breakdown I was glad he acknowledged his confusion and pain, too. I think Mac was as well. Hopefully the more explicitly Mac/Dick moments will start appearing soon. I'm definitely feeling it. :-p

FanFicFairy514 Hehe. I feel that the flying thong was a moment of pure genius. I don't think I'll ever experience such a gift again.

Lindsay Thank you! I agree that they needed to have the conversation. It had to occur for the story to continue unfolding. I hope you liked this chapter!

LoVe23 Yeah, we didn't seem much more opening up in this chapter. But soon, I promise!

Lhara G Hi and thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like the story. And I'm glad you're getting into Mac/Dick. Aside from LoVe, it's my favorite pairing on the show. I hope you liked this chapter!

SatisfactoryInfluence I love LoVe (in its every connotation), but I think the drama behind them is so cemented into our minds now that it's losing some interest for me. I love them together, don't get me wrong, they will never get old. But the drama behind Mac/Dick is more of a draw for me right now. I need to see this play out, Rob Thomas. I NEED TO. That said…Thanks for reviewing:-p I'm so happy that you still like the story! I know there wasn't much Mac/Dick in this chapter, but there will be in the next one! And it won't take another month for me to post. I swear.

Brigitte I'm glad you like my take on Logan and Veronica. They are the only way to go relationship wise. I swear there will be more of them in the next chapter. Along with more Mac/Dick. Please keep reading!

shelubbsu Hi and thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like the story. And I can't give anything away! But…(lowers voice) Dick will not become the ass he once was.

Flame31 Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like the story and I hope this chapter was just as good!


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